Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2016
Comparative StudyMinimally invasive cardiac output monitoring: agreement of oesophageal Doppler, LiDCOrapid™ and Vigileo FloTrac™ monitors in non-cardiac surgery.
There is lack of data about the agreement of minimally invasive cardiac output monitors, which make it impossible to determine if they are interchangeable or differ objectively in tracking physiological trends. We studied three commonly used devices: the oesophageal Doppler and two arterial pressure-based devices, the Vigileo FloTrac™ and LiDCOrapid™. The aim of this study was to compare the agreement of these three monitors in adult patients undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery. ⋯ The cardiac index of Doppler versus LiDCOrapid and Doppler versus FloTrac, had an increasing negative bias at higher mean cardiac outputs and there was significantly poorer concordance to all interventions. Of the preload-responsive parameters, Doppler stroke volume index, Doppler systolic flow time and FloTrac stroke volume variation were fair at predicting fluid responsiveness while other parameters were poor. While there is reasonable agreement between the two arterial pressure-derived cardiac output devices (LiDCOrapid and Vigileo FloTrac), these two devices differ significantly to the oesophageal Doppler technology in response to common clinical intraoperative interventions, representing a limitation to how interchangeable these technologies are in measuring cardiac output.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2016
A feasibility study of functional status and follow-up clinic preferences of patients at high risk of post intensive care syndrome.
After prolonged mechanical ventilation patients may experience the 'post intensive care syndrome' (PICS) and may be candidates for post-discharge follow-up clinics. We aimed to ascertain the incidence and severity of PICS symptoms in patients surviving prolonged mechanical ventilation and to describe their views regarding follow-up clinics. In a teaching hospital, we conducted a cohort study of all adult patients discharged alive after ventilation in ICU for ≥7 days during 2013. ⋯ Finally, 21/26 (81%) patients stated that an ICU follow-up clinic would have been beneficial. At long-term follow-up, the majority of survivors of prolonged mechanical ventilation reported impaired quality of life and significant psychological symptoms. Most believed that a follow-up clinic would have been beneficial.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2016
Observational StudyA prospective observational study of the association between cabin and outside air temperature, and patient temperature gradient during helicopter transport in New South Wales.
The prevalence of hypothermia in patients following helicopter transport varies widely. Low outside air temperature has been identified as a risk factor. Modern helicopters are insulated and have heating; therefore outside temperature may be unimportant if cabin heat is maintained. ⋯ A large proportion of patients in our sample were hypothermic at the referring hospital. The best predictor of patient temperature on landing is patient temperature on loading. This has implications for studies that fail to account for pre-flight temperature.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2016
Automated external defibrillator use for in-hospital emergency management.
The in-hospital spread of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) is aimed to allow for a shock-delivery within three minutes. However, it has to be questioned if the implementation of AED alone really contributes to a 'heart-safe hospital'. We performed a cohort study of 1008 in-hospital emergency calls in a university tertiary care hospital, analysing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) cases with and without AED use. ⋯ In three of 43 placements a shock was delivered by the AED. There were no differences in survival between patients with CPR only and CPR with AED use. Our data do not support the use of an AED for in-hospital CPR if a professional response team is rapidly available.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2016
Perioperative management of patients treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers: a quality improvement audit.
Previous studies have shown that patients continuing angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers on the day of surgery are more likely to have significant intraoperative hypotension, higher rates of postoperative acute kidney injury, and lower incidences of postoperative atrial fibrillation. However, many of these studies were prone to bias and confounding, and questions remain over the validity of these outcomes. This observational, before-and-after quality improvement audit aimed to assess the effect of withholding these medications on the morning of surgery. ⋯ This audit found no significant differences in measured outcomes between the continued or withheld ACEi/ARB groups. This finding should be interpreted with caution due to the possibility of confounding and an insufficient sample size. However, as the finding is in contrast to many previous studies, future prospective randomised clinical trials are required to answer this important question.